Chloë Grace Moretz Admits She Once Felt "Fat" and "Not Pretty" and Reveals How She Overcame Her Insecurities

"I'm so free now," the Fifth Wave actress tells Marie Claire

By Zach Johnson Jan 07, 2016 3:20 PMTags
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Even movie stars have insecurities.

It seems obvious, but sometimes people forget that behind the lens, celebrities have feelings, too. As Chloë Grace Moretz admits in Marie Claire's February issue, she let her insecurities get the best of her while filming 2013's Carrie. The actress admits she would obsessively read and believe criticisms on social media. "I felt fat; I felt not pretty. I felt like I didn't really know who I was. I was so confused; I was scared. I had bad acne," Moretz recalls. "I felt incredibly insecure."

Moretz was already tough enough on herself without the added scrutiny. Raised by a single mom, the teen star says her parents' divorce "toughened" her up at an early age. "It made me harder on myself. [It] was as heavy as you can get to dismantle a family, for sure. He just left, so it's like you have to fend for yourself…When you're betrayed by someone that is a bloodline, you start to beware trusting people and to protect yourself at all costs," she tells the magazine of her attitudes towards men. "For a long time, I did that too much. I wasn't letting people in."

The 18-year-old Fifth Wave star is in a much better place today. "I'm so free now. I don't know what happened, but when I turned 17, this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders," she says. "I'm so open; I have a good time; I don't worry about what people say about me. I know who I am, who I want to be, what I want to portray myself as, what I want people to think of me."

Moretz has a busy year ahead of her, with starring roles in The Fifth Wave, November Criminals, Brain on Fire and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, which means she doesn't have much time for a love life. "I don't want to date older people, because I'm 18 and older people are more serious. Then I kind of realized, 'I'll go on dates. Why not?' And that's kind of how I am right now," she tells Marie Claire, on sale next week. "I'm not looking for a while. At least until I'm, like, 23."

Watch: Chloe Grace Moretz Is Excited for "Little Mermaid"